Advanced battery development in the US

Batteries for load leveling and electric vehicle applications are under development in the United States. The most difficult requirements for these applications are long cycle life, high power density, and low cost. Steady progress is being made in developing advanced batteries. The US Department of Energy is sponsoring development of sodium sulfur, zinc bromine, zinc chloride, and aluminum air batteries. Exploratory research is being conducted on a variety of cell systems, such as lithium metal sulfide, alkali metal sulfur, glass electrolyte, and low temperature organic electrolyte. This paper reviews the US government effort in the development of advanced batteries and discusses some of the key systems.